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How to Request a Copy of Your Tax Returns

Beginning with the 2013-14 academic year, financial aid offices no longer accept signed copies of federal tax returns from students and parents for FAFSA verification purposes. There is an easier, faster way to provide tax information for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). When completing the FAFSA, you will be prompted to enter your PIN and link to the IRS website. The retrieval process will display your tax information and allow you to transfer it to your FAFSA.

Our office encourages everyone to retrieve their tax data if you and your parent(s) have filed your tax return(s) prior to completing the FAFSA. Please note families who use the IRS Data Retrieval process may be required to submit an IRS tax transcript directly from the IRS to complete the federal verification process. Our recommendation is for you (and your parent(s) if required) to file federal income taxes electronically prior to filing the FAFSA as well as partcipating in the IRS retrieval process. If you file your federal tax return electronically, the data will be available to import into the FAFSA application within approximately two weeks of the IRS accepting your return (or your parent(s) if applicable). If you or your parent(s) file taxes by paper, it will take eight weeks before yoru information will be available for the IRS data retrieval process.

How to obtain a free tax return transcript from the IRS

If your FAFSA is selected for verification and you did not use the IRS Data Retrieval option or you changed the IRS data, you will be required to request a tax transcript from the IRS and submit it to the Office of Student Financial Services. Personal copies of the tax returns can no longer be accepted.

There are two ways to request your tax transcript: by phone or online. Make sure you request a Tax Transcript; do not request a Tax Account Transcript or Record of Account because they cannot be used for financial aid verification purposes.

To order by phone: Call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040 and then select the following prompts:

Option 2 (Personal Income Taxes)

Option 1 (Tax History)

Option 2 (Tax Return Transcript)

Enter and verify Social Security number (if joint return, both SSNs required).